Chicago Hospital Complex Exploration pt. 2
We started the day with plans to explore two abandoned hospitals in the area. The hospital has been a historic point of Chicago since it was built and even had a popular TV sitcom based on it. The hallways were gigantic, but also very empty. Being a county hospital, the city had pinched every penny from the closure that they could.
There was almost nothing left but the structure of this building. Rooms stood completely empty with only a scrap or two of metal or a radiator against the wall.:
Making our way up to the top floor, we could see the Chicago skyline outside of the window. I wound my way through a small hallway to find an oddly placed auditorium that was probably used for the observation of surgeries at one point. The floor of the auditorium where the instructor once stood was now completely filled with what seemed to be heating equipment. A hulking wall of aluminum blocked us from going any further down the stairs.
The hallways were as gutted as the actual rooms. I have no idea why, but dirt was covering the ground of this 7th floor hallway.
We exited the first of our destinations and made our way to the second. This hospital, midway between the point where a building is closed and the point where demolition work starts, was much more interesting. It was full of leftover equipment, records, x-rays, film - you name it. Unfortunately, we were running low on daylight so we were forced to rush through.
The hospital felt as if everyone had just gotten up and left. Not a single room in the building that we were able to explore was completely empty. Chairs, piles of records, even medical equipment was just left to rot.
The furniture in the building was dated. Seems the last time that they actually refurnished the place was in the seventies, although I'm pretty sure it closed much more recently.
The halls were dark, full of furniture and debris. Peeling paint coats floors that have paint, other halls are lined with tile that has not yet fallen off.
Meet the most frightening CPR dummy that you'll ever see.
One of the most surprising and incredible things that has ever happened to me while exploring suddenly happened. We were wandering around looking for a way to make it to the basement and something insane happened. We were in a dark stairwell. Dirty floors, peeling paint everywhere, no lights, darkness - suddenly, we opened a door and found ourself in one of the most pristine abandoned buildings that we had ever been in. It felt surreal, almost dreamlike. The colors on the walls were the same as they were when the building closed, the floors almost looked waxed. It was crazy. We were in a hurry (many windows, well lit), so I couldn't get a great photo.
More to come of course.
To see more of my abandoned photos, check out my main site.
Dead Mall: Exploration of an Abandoned Shopping Center
Went out to Chicago again this weekend. Took a few photos of some new places.
First destination - An abandoned shopping mall. Once in an area of great promise, now the area has descended into high crime and depression. The mall, used for the chase scene in the Blues Brothers movie, closed in 1978 and since then had been the site of a murder, multiple rapes, and a few other very nasty things until the police station moved nearby.
Fire damage is apparent in the building and the once sturdy concrete upper floor has caved in at multiple sites within.
A sign hangs from the position where it once stood. Vandalism has removed much of what was once in the mall, but sometimes you'll stumble upon signs of what used to be:
Walls are torn down - only flaps of wallpaper and wood grid remains in some areas:
This room was particularly interesting to me. I'm not sure if I'm right, but I think that the blue tint in my photo is due to the holes in the ceiling becoming a giant pinhole camera type device. The blue and white is actually a projection of the sky above:
An escalator, once part of a bustling JC Penny, now stands silent. Water collecting at the bottom makes for a tricky climb as well as corroding metal steps:
Two escalators cross in a large department store area:
Colorful murals and wallpaper adorn the dreary halls of the old mall:
My second destination was, as far as I could tell, an abandoned chemical research factory. I'm told that it was once an oil company, but I can't for the life of me tell exactly what they did in there because I found all sorts of obscure chemicals not related at all to petroleum.
A piano is in the hallway across from a lab. I have no idea why it's there:
Some insane machinery fills up one of the rooms in the building:
Various equipment, bottles, and papers create shadows in this room. It smelled of sulfur, so I didn't stay in there for long:
Notice the "asb 9" in this photo. I'm pretty sure that means that there was asbestos present and needed to be removed. Still, the least of our worries:
As always, you know where to find more and larger.
Abandoned Chicago Hospital
I spent my Sunday exploring an abandoned hospital. It was amazing.
The hospital closed due to malpractice - doctors were recommending unnecessary surgery and allowing patients to undergo operations that they didn't need. Now, the hospital is a mildewy mess - the carpet squished beneath my feet with every step, tiles were curled up from the moisture, and the air was heavy with the smell of must.
We made our way into the building and found ourselves in the dark basement, murky water resting at the base of our feet.
First, our guide (A guy Jordan that I met through flickr, awesome guy, by the way), led us up to the top floor of the nurses residency building to the pool where we hung out for a bit. A skylight let the sun through and almost managed to light up the murky surroundings.
We made our way through the residency building. Every floor was pretty much the same, but I snapped a shot of one of the more furnished rooms.
From there we made our way to the records room - a room literally bursting with rows of files and books. Books about autopsies, books about surgeries, files about people who were admitted and people who had died, microfilm, birth records. Everything.
Various slides were stored in small containers around the room:
From here, we wandered:
We found a room covered in dust from a fire extinguisher:
A creepy counter:
and corrosive materials:
Until we had some fun. We found a hyperbaric chamber and a ton of scrubs, so we decided to screw around a bit.
More photos, as always, on my flickr:
Abandoned Church Exploration pt.2
I loved the place so much that I went back again. Unfortunately, it took me forever to write about it, so I might be a bit fuzzy on the details. More exploration to come! Here are some photos of the abandoned church, as well as explanation.
The rooms in the church show so much decay, it's incredible. This particular room was part of the "school" section of the building. The ceiling had fallen in and there was a single chair left. Further in, evidence of looters. The ceilings were torn out and stripped of all valuable materials.
I climbed to the top of the church as high as I could go and came upon a pile of cinderblocks against the wall. Luckily, they had been securely placed (or frozen), so they held my weight without collapsing. I lifted myself up through a hole in the roof onto a rusty old catwalk and found myself at the top of the steeple in the main sanctuary area (more photos of that on the post before this one). It was pretty high up and I was nervous, so I got down there pretty quickly. For good measure, Elise took a photo of me from the bottom. You can see my face in the center of the photo to the right.
Some of the rooms had some pretty interesting graffiti in them.
The floors in some of the rooms were completely covered in a layer of ice. Others were covered ankle deep with clothes and toys.
Finally, we ventured down into the basement. We hadn't thought of bringing flashlights, so we were navigating using the light of our cell phones. It was an ominous place. I found a piano from the 1800's, but couldn't get a shot of it due to the poor lighting. I was able to get a quick shot of a hole in the ceiling and a blindingly lit opening created by what seems to be someone pounding away at the bricks.
The last place we visited seemed to be where the fire started - an abandoned bookstore in the storefront area of the church. There were so many neat things there. We found a poster announcing the original release of Stephen King's "Carrie" as well as a giant poster of "The Fonz" and a Mork and Mindy book. I also found a stack of resumes from the 70's. I might post them - important information blanked out - in the future.
More exploration to come.
Chicago Auto Show
Less info, more pictures. I hear that's what people like. Here are some photos of awesome cars. More will follow in the upcoming days.
I took tons more. Weird thing I just noticed though, what the heck is with the color orange? Is it the new thing or something?